The “sound” in jazz, talk with François Delalande

Abstract

In every area of music nowadays we can see the spread of the use of the word “sound”
which is tending, apparently, to supplant the concept of “timbre”. but it is wider, less
clear, and seems to designate different realities for different kinds of music. In the case
of jazz, the “sound” is first a signature by which the instrumental performer manifests his
identity. For different instruments, what makes up the “sound” is examined here:
particular ways of playing, sometimes including the use of a microphone, also reflecting
an anti-academism, which is the consequence of autodidactic training. There is also a
group sound, an arranger’s sound, even a sound for each brand of records. It is to be
noted finally that the sound has a significance, like the “dirty” sound or the low-pitched
sound in black American culture.